But there is no getting around the sentiment of the bystanders or the rabble that showed up, disgracefully, at the hospital where the officers were taken, shouting abuse at the police: “Oink, oink,” “Y’all going to die one by one.”

There are several things to say about this. One is that these cretins apparently hadn’t gotten the message that BLM is supposedly all about reforming the police, rather than expressing a comprehensive, unthinking animus against the cops.

Another is that cops have to deal with these sorts of spontaneous hostile crowds all the time now in the course of their work, which makes it more dangerous and difficult — with the citizens of crime-ridden areas paying the steepest price.

Finally, it should go without saying that it is wrong and deeply illiberal to flatten all police officers into stereotypes. The officers shot in L.A. were a 31-year-old mother of a 6-year-old child and a 24-year-old man, both of whom had joined the force only a little over a year ago. They aren’t symbols but real people who should be honored and respected.